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‘I am already used to it’: interfaces between work, body and health of recyclable material collectors

Abstract

The social context of the capitalist production system impacts labor relations, including precarious scenarios marked by instability and insecurity for workers. Here we discuss data derived from a qualitative study carried out in the municipality of Erechim, Brazil, from February to April 2018, which investigated the relationship between work, corporeality and health based on the analysis of narratives produced by recyclable material collectors and ethnographic incursions in their work context. We sought to problematize the incidence of delivery of the body to work and its repercussions in the case of the collectors participating in the research, considering the health dynamics that integrate the physical, psychological and social dimensions of these subjects. The results indicate the circumstances of vulnerability to which they are exposed. As can be seen from their narratives, the work is linked to the need, leading them to disregard the adverse conditions involved in its realization or to adapt to them, even though the costs of this process are high. This reality indicates the urgency of analysis of the relationships between work, health and social inequality in the Brazilian context, considering that health is a fundamental human right and its enjoyment must be available to everyone.

recyclable material collectors; job; corporeality; health

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